On that Fateful Day....

I have had a love of history my entire life.  Perhaps that is why I was drawn to obtaining a degree in History at the University of Idaho.  I’ve always been very interested in Revolutionary War history – perhaps it has something to do with my fascination with John Adams or maybe it was the Betsy Ross costume my mother made for me to march in the parade in 1976.  I’ve always enjoyed learning and reading about the time period.  During some research, I found that one of my ancestors participated in that very first day of battle on 19 April 1775.

Asa Wheelock was the third of the eleven children of Jonathan Wheelock and Martha Wight.   He was born on 2 Oct 1741 in Charlton, Worcester Co., MA.  He married Rachel Drury on 3 Dec 1763 in Charlton, Worcester Co., MA.  She was the daughter of John Drury and Susannah Goddard and was born 13 Feb 1744 in Framingham, Middlesex Co., MA.  By the time 1775 had come along, Asa and Rachel had five children with oldest being just 10 years old.  During that fateful year, I’m sure Asa, like many other area farmers took up practicing on the village green as their village militia.  Asa served under Ebenezer Learned during that first day on April 19, 1775 when the militia after hearing word about the Battle at Lexington marched to Roxbury, MA where he served 12 days.  In my imagination, I see his wife waiting at home with their five children probably wondering if he would ever make it home and waiting for twelve days until they saw him again.

Asa probably came back home like many of those early soldiers and planted his spring crops.  He served again as a Sergeant in Captain Abijah Lamb’s company and Col Jonathan Holman’s regiment for 21 days when the company marched home from Providence, RI during the alarm on December 10, 1776.  It doesn’t look as if he served a lot of time –but he did do his part and survived.  Longfellow called the first shot on that day as the “shot heard round the world!”  There were a lot of militia men like Asa Wheelock who served on the first day and went back home to plant their fields.  Asa and Rachel both lived long lives.  After the war, Asa and Rachel moved to Calais, VT and became some of the earliest settlers.   Asa was 75 when he died in March 1816 and Rachel was 86 years old when she died 2 Apr 1830.

Asa and Rachel went on to have eleven total children who are:

               i.   RHODA⁹ WHEELOCK, b. 28 Mar 1765, Charlton, Worcester Co., MA.

              ii.   MARTHA WHEELOCK, b. 09 Dec 1766, Charlton, Worcester Co., MA; m. DAVID GODDELL, 01 Nov 1786, Charlton, Worcester Co., MA.

             iii.   GODDARD WHEELOCK, b. 25 Sep 1768, Charlton, Worcester Co., MA; d. Abt. 1814, Calais, Washington Co.,VT; m. ELEANOR HATHAWAY.

             iv.   JENNISON WHEELOCK, b. 31 May 1770, Charlton, Worcester Co., MA; d. 25 Feb 1813, Calais, Washington Co.,VT; m. MOLLY WELLS.

              v.   AMOS WHEELOCK, b. 05 Mar 1772, Charlton, Worcester Co., MA; d. Aft. 1835, Calais, Washington Co.,VT; m. HANNAH WHEELOCK, 24 Feb 1799, Charlton, Worcester Co., MA; b. 11 Apr 1779, Charlton, Worcester Co., MA; d. 21 Mar 1812, Charlton, Worcester Co., MA.

             vi.   SALEM WHEELOCK, b. Abt. 1776, Charlton, Worcester Co., MA; d. Abt. 1853, Auburn, NY; m. ABIGAIL MCKNIGHT, Abt. 1798, Calais, Washington Co.,VT.

            vii.   LEONARD WHEELOCK, b. Abt. 1777, Charlton, Worcester Co., MA; m. LORINDA JAMES.

            viii.   MARY WHEELOCK, b. 29 Apr 1778, Charlton, Worcester Co., MA; d. 31 Jan 1854, Shipton, Richmond Co., Quebec; m. WINSLOW POPE, 08 Dec 1793, Berlin, Washington Co., VT; b. 10 Aug 1770, Rochester, Plymouth Co., MA; d. 18 Feb 1847, Shipton, Richmond Co., Quebec.

             ix.   HULDAH WHEELOCK, b. Mar 1780, Charlton, Worcester Co., MA; d. 18 Jan 1863.

              x.   ASA WHEELOCK, b. Abt. 1783, Charlton, Worcester Co., MA; d. 24 Feb 1858, Apple River, IL; m. (1) LUCY HUBBARD, Abt. 1807; d. Bef. 1818; m. (2) WELTHA ADALINE HORR, Abt. 1817.

             xi.   JARED WHEELOCK, b. 05 Aug 1785, Charlton, Worcester Co., MA; d. 17 Oct 1872, Calais, Washington Co.,VT; m. MARY DAVIS, 01 Jan 1805, Calais, Washington Co.,VT.

I am descended from their daughter Mary Wheelock who married Winslow Pope in 1793.  Asa and Rachel are my 5^th great grandparents.  On this 236^th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, I salute the militia men who were brave enough to stand up to the most powerful military in the world and especially my 5^th great grandfather, Asa Wheelock.

An Educational Pioneer

Rev. Ralph Wheelock is someone of importance that I imagine most people know very little about.  He was born in Dorrington, Shropshire England on 14 May 1600 and attended Cambridge and was a contemporary of John Milton.  He got a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1626 and a Master of Arts in 1631. Rev. Wheelock married Rebecca Clarke on 17 May 1630 in England.  Their first three children were born in England and they immigrated in 1637 to the Massachusetts Bay Colony and set out like many others to build a new life.  (According to some there were about 20,000 immigrants in the Great Migration years from 1630-1640 – for more information check Puritan Migration to New England (1620-1640)

Rev. Wheelock and his wife settled in Watertown, MA and later joined in a plan to create a settlement further up the Charles River later to be called Dedham.  Rev Wheelock was involved with helping to found the town, involved in its early government and various other governmental functions.   In 1651, Rev. Wheelock and his family moved to the town of New Dedham, later called Medfield.  Rev. Wheelock is counted upon as one of its founders.  All of these duties and activities make Rev. Ralph Wheelock significant in the early years of these communities; however what I find to be truly significant is his role as an educator.

One of Rev. Wheelock’s early activities was raising money to help fund the new college at Harvard which was founded in 1636.  Rev. Wheelock was a minister by profession but he was an educator at heart.  According to some records, he was probably one of the first public school teachers in America.  In 1644, Dedham established the first free school in Massachusetts that was supported by taxes, and Rev. Ralph Wheelock was the first teacher at this school.  He was an enthusiastic teacher and supported of education in early Massachusetts.  Reverend Wheelock died in 1683 in Medfield, MA surviving his wife by three years (she died 1 Jan 1680) It must have been an important part of his family philosophy because his great grandson went on to become the founder of Dartmouth College.  If you are interested in more info on Rev. Wheelock check out the Biography of Reverend Ralph Wheelock on Rick Sullivan’s website.

My particular line to Rev. Ralph Wheelock is the following:

• Rev. Ralph Wheelock m. Rebecca Clarke
• Benjamin Wheelock, Sr. m. Elizabeth Bullen
• Benjamin Wheelock m. Huldah Thayer
• Jonathan Wheelock m. Martha Wight
• Asa Wheelock m. Rachel Drury
• Mary Wheelock m. Winslow Pope
• Francis Pope m. Belinda Willey
• Winslow Lonsdale Pope m. Nancy Ann Marie Lyons
• Shirlie Louisa Pope m. Ulpian Grey Johnson
• Frank Stewart Johnson m. Helen Marian Gage

Frank and Marian were my grandparents.  When most of us have early American history, most teacher gloss over these early years.  We are taught a bit about the Pilgrims and maybe a little about the foundation of the other colonies.  We don’t learn about some of these early pioneers to our country.  As a nation, we celebrate the pioneers in our heritage, but I bet the image that comes to mind are those brave souls who traveled with their wagons across the Oregon Trail.  These early immigrants to the New World left behind everything and while some were pursing financial opportunities, many of these early pioneers were pursing the freedom to practice their own faith the way they chose.  Some like Rev. Wheelock also took the opportunity to help start a free school so that all children would have an opportunity for an education.  I wish all of those students today who bemoan the fact that they have to go to school that it is a privilege to have the opportunity of an education and to take advantage of that opportunity instead of squandering it!